Statistics on Illegals in Sheriff Joe’s Jail

Posted on April 8, 2010

Phoenix’s CBS local television affiliate did some research into the numbers of illegals currently populating the Maricopa County jail, the one run by nationally known Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This is the same Sheriff who’s known for his crackdown on illegal immigrants, and has garnered criticism from Washington, especially from the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and former Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano. Here’s what CBS found:

19 percent of the all the inmates in jail are illegal immigrants.

Of the 460-some inmates jailed on first-degree murder charges, 63 of them, or about 14 percent, are here illegally.

Of those jailed on kidnapping for ransom, 80 percent are here illegally.

More than half (52 percent) of the inmates incarcerated for possession of narcotics for sale are here illegally.

Half of those arrested on DUI charges are here illegally.

Illegal immigration is a hot button issue in Arizona. Although Sheriff Joe may not be popular with Washington, and even some in the local community, the numbers themselves speak to the reason why he still has the support of the majority of the residents in Maricopa County.